Lourdes Basketball Club 3×3 GOA BASKETBALL LEAGUE Champs
Lourdes Basketball Club [LBC] will be remembered as the first Champions of the first ever 3×3 Goa Basketball League to be held in Goa, and registered as a FIBA event. Falling short by just 2 points, the Ecoclean Ninjas, Panjim, were runners [16 – 18] up in a thrilling finals at the DBO indoor court, Panjim on Sunday, 21 April 2024. Shaun Aranjo was awarded the ‘Best Defensive Player’, Shubham Shiva Singh was awarded the ‘Best Offensive Player, Ashley Monteiro the Highest Scorer, and Jeshua Pinto was awarded the Most valuable Player [MVP] of the event. LBC’s Jeshua Pinto [11] and Shubham Shiva Singh [5] really kept the pace and check on Ecoclean Ninjas, who were no less in skill with Ashley [7] and Jaden vas [6].
The 3×3 GBL was first of its kind in Goa with 12 owners of clubs who picked up players from a pool of registered players, with 1 outstation player in a team of 4. In its premier season, a minimum of 15K was invested by the owner, which included a minimum payment of 2K to every player in the league. The player registration process was done online, with over 60 players registering for the event. To ensure that the results of the games were of value, every match was conducted as per fiba regulations of events, and the performance of the players would be recorded on the FIBA Stats and award ranking to the players both at the National and the International level. The league was organised on 3 weekends of April 2024, concluding on Sunday, 21 April.The league was organised under the aegis of Goa Basketball Association, by DBO Panjim and DBO Fatorda.
The event protocols were explained to the sponsors of the teams, in a bid to promote the game in a professional manner, and GBA hopes that similar events would invite more interested sports enthusiasts to invest in the fast growing game in Goa.
Of the 12 teams, Ecoclean Ninjas, Panjim Thunderbolts [Pool A], Siolim Basketeers. Season’s Dribblers [Pool B], Naroo Panthers, Rim Rulers [Pool C] and Lourdes Basketball Club, Celtics [Pool D] advanced to the Quarter Final Rounds. After the thrilling close matches, it was finally Ecoclean Ninjas and Lourdes Basketball Club to vie for the final result. In the final standings: Lourdes BC, Ecoclean Ninjas, Panjim Thunderbolts, Naroo Panthers, Siolim Basketeers, Season Dribblers, Rim Rulers and Celtics claimed the Top eight positions. Fr. Avin Carvalho, Rector of Don Bosco Panjim was the chief guest and gave away the trophies, medals and cash prizes. Others guests and dignitaries were, Shane Dias [GBA President], Fr. Ralin De Souza [GBA Secretary & BFI Vice President], Luis Gomes and Maria Helena Pinto.